


Emissary

by agentaace



Series: Taakitz Week 2018 [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Taako is an emissary of Istus, au where... you'll see ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-13 23:31:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14123202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentaace/pseuds/agentaace
Summary: Istus has chosen a recently deceased elf as her emissary. An event such as this deserves a party, for all of the gods and goddesses as well as their own emissaries. And so Kravitz finds himself dancing with a stranger.





	Emissary

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, I deleted the second chapter of this and I'm sorry if that disappoints people! I've been way too busy to continue this, and I probably won't any time soon, so this first chapter works way better as a one-shot. If I do continue this, I'll probably finish it first and then post the next several chapters all together, but for now I like the way this one reads on its own!!

It is no small occasion when a goddess chooses a new emissary. Such occasions are generally accompanied by celebrations in their honor, which is where Kravitz finds himself currently. The ball’s not for him, of course. He has been the emissary of the Raven Queen for a very, very long time. The decor is enough to tell that it is Istus, not the Raven Queen, who is hosting the event.

The walls, floors, tables, everything, are covered in a silvery chrome, light reflecting in the material to make rainbows dance across the room. Kravitz, along with his own goddess, stand out in their dark colors and less festive attitudes. There are many other gods, goddesses, and their own emissaries in attendance, but Istus and her special guest have not arrived yet.

When the pair does arrive, it’s with exuberant, yet still classy, fanfare. First, Istus appears at the top of the double, curved staircase at the end of the hall. She bows her head to a round of applause, and she lets her silvery hair fall in front of her face. Then, she steps to the side, holding a hand out behind her.

Kravitz’s first impression of Istus’ new emissary is breathtaking. He’s an elf, long blonde hair piled on top of his head, pinned with silver accents that match the copious amounts of jewelry lining his neck, his arms, his hands, his long ears. Like Kravitz matches his Raven Queen, this elf matches Istus, wearing a long silver dress that drags on the floor behind him. It’s open in the front, elegant and slim, collar reaching his chin but leaving his shoulders and arms exposed. Similar to the decor it catches the light and displays rainbows in the holographic material, lighting up the room with his mere presence.

The elf does not look happy. He looks impartial, stiff, his face remaining carefully blank. This is not uncommon for emissaries, due to the fact that one becomes an emissary when they have recently died. He must have caught Istus’ attention during his life, enough that when he died she intervened and took him in. It’s the same story for Kravitz.

Kravitz belatedly realizes that people are politely clapping, and he joins in as it’s dying down. He is… distracted, for the first time in a long while. To his right he catches the Raven Queen grinning slightly, but she turns and looks somewhere else when he catches her. When he looks back at the elf, he finds the elf is looking back at him. They meet eyes, and the elf nods, looking at him with something like curiosity.

Then, Istus speaks. “This is Taako. I hope that you all wish him well in this phase of his existence.” She nods to the elf, Taako, her short speech finished. He nods back to her, and she takes his hand to walk together down the left side of the staircase.

Emissaries of Milil, the god of poetry and song, begin to play music, conducted by the god himself. They play music fit for the halls of kings, as that is what these celebrations are meant to resemble. As people begin to pair off, Kravitz keeps his eyes on Taako. He sees him have a whispered conversation with Istus, and then he actually begins approaching Kravitz.

Kravitz pretends that he wasn’t staring at Taako, instead looking at a silvery ribbon wrapped around a white stone pillar. Things tended to be very bright when Istus was put in charge of decorating. And hopefully thinking about the decor would make Kravitz feel less awkward.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, reaper man.” This is the first thing that he hears Taako say, and it’s not at all what he expected to hear. Kravitz turns and gives Taako his attention, who is smiling faintly at him. His eyes still look hollow, as expected from the recently deceased.

“I apologize, do we know each other?” Kravitz asks. Taako laughs in response, and Kravitz thinks that he would not mind hearing that laugh again.

“Guess not. Is that your actual voice, or…?” Taako raises one eyebrow, confusing Kravitz even more. “Well then, it’s good to know that you talk like a normal person.”

“You’re welcome?” Kravitz says, unsure of any other appropriate response. “It’s, um, it’s Kravitz, by the way.” Taako nods, as if it wasn’t new information.

“Taako,” He smiles again.

“...Taako, would you like to dance?” He asks, surprising even himself. But that’s what everyone around them seems to be doing, and the point of this gathering is to make the new emissary feel welcome.

Taako seems surprised at that, too. But he shrugs, offers a hand, and says, “Sure.” Kravitz takes his hand, and leads him away from the wall. There are several things that Kravitz is good at, including various instruments, conducting, card games, etc, but not many people are aware that he is also a fantastic ballroom dancer. It should be expected, really, that such a distinguished man would be able to dance with the grace required to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes.

As they dance, Kravitz learns that Taako is also a good dancer, even when he’s distracted. His gaze is a thousand miles away, relying entirely on Kravitz’s lead to keep himself moving. Kravitz doesn’t know what to say, if he’s supposed to say anything. Sure, he deals with people in various stages of dying as his job, but words of comfort aren’t normally a part of it.

He settles with saying, “I wanted to be a conductor, before this.” This brings Taako’s attention back. He looks up at Kravitz in surprise, a hint of confusion as well. “Most emissaries ended up here because they didn’t have another option. It’s not generally a life goal to end up here.”

Taako slowly nods, seeing where he’s going with this. “I wanted to be a chef,” He says. “It, um, didn’t go quite to plan.” Kravitz doesn’t respond, just listens, gives him his full attention, and Taako continues. “My assistant, he, well. He poisoned me. And then,” Taako gestures to the room around them, temporarily letting go of Kravitz’s hand.

“And Istus chose you for that?” Kravitz asks, confused. Normally an emissary dies doing something related to the god or goddess, something that gets their attention. Something like dying in a necromantic ritual.

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been a whole town that died that day,” Taako says, something sharp entering his tone.

“Fate. I see,” Kravitz nods, and Taako relaxes a little. “Istus chose you because of your sacrifice.”

Taako bites his lip, and Kravitz picks up that it must be a lot more complicated than that. “...Basically, yeah,” He says, after a pause. “What about you, bones?”

“I am an emissary of the Raven Queen,” Kravitz says, and Taako dips his head in a gesture to continue. “I was killed by some necromancers, during a ritual.”

“Yeesh. That’s rough.” Taako winces in sympathy. Kravitz shrugs.

“It happened a very long time ago. It stops hurting, eventually,” He says, in an attempt to comfort Taako, who looks away to the side but nods anyway.

Across the room Istus and the Raven Queen stand together, not dancing, merely watching the party. They see Pan, alone, talking to several other deities and their emissaries. When asked if he’ll ever chose one of his own, Pan just winks, and says that he’s got his eye on someone, always leaving it at that.

The Raven Queen’s attention continually draws back to her own Kravitz. She is pleased that he has found someone to share his company with, even more so that it’s someone Istus trusts.

Istus is glad that her Taako can still salvage this part of his fate, no matter how twisted the rest of it has become. She knows that even if Taako had not accepted the chalice’s offer, he would have still somehow been drawn to Kravitz. It would have been different, but still good for the both of them.

Taako finds that he can be more honest with the reaper that tried to kill him and his friends on multiple occasions than practically anyone he’d ever met in his life. Not counting Lup, of course, but few could ever compare to her. Kravitz, though… He feels like more than dust.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Taakitzweek day 3, Roleswap! Could also be used for the prompt "fun" with magic, if you use the last couple of lines. ;)
> 
> This was part of a larger au I had planned, but I kind of like leaving it at this. A shame all of my world building and planning might go to waste, though.
> 
> EDIT: Here I am, writing the rest of this AU. Let's go!


End file.
